BUTLER TWP — Ritenour Equipment Center, which sells items ranging from hand-held power equipment to large tractors, aims to build a long-term relationship with the community.

Ritenour Equipment opened at its Evans City Road location in 1993 when it was bought by owner Rick Ritenour. The building previously housed Wick Implement, which also sold lawn and garden power equipment.

Ritenour took a hiatus in 2006, but he reopened the store in February 2014 by customer request, according to manager Harold Stahlman.

“We sell everything from small, hand-held power equipment up to big skid-loaders used for construction,” Stahlman said. “We have anything people need to take care of their lawns and property.”

The center’s collection of equipment includes push mowers, zero-turn mowers and even industrial-sized Mahindra tractors. It sells to both residential and commercial buyers.

While a homeowner may have only a couple acres, a commercial buyer would need more heavy-duty, professional grade mowers and tractors, he said. For steep land, Stahlman would recommend a four-wheel drive tractor, but a property with a number of trees and obstacles might need the maneuvering power of a zero-turn mower.

And Stahlman’s employees are always ready to help customers navigate their options, he said.

“Whatever the project is, we can help you,” he said.

But it’s the Mahindra that is king at Ritenour.

“Our main business is the Mahindra tractor,” he said.

Mahindra is considered the best tractor in the world and is No. 1 in global sales, Stahlman said. That company opened in 1945 and began building World War II Jeeps in India.

The tractor division of the company opened in 1977, and in 2012, a new Mahindra assembly and distribution facility opened in Bloomsburg, Columbia County.

The Bloomsburg facility is where most of the tractors sold in the Butler area are made.

A significant portion of the parts are manufactured in the United States, but a few pieces are made elsewhere, Stahlman said.

A small tractor could be bought for less than a monthly car payment, Stahlman said, which means many people may opt to do their own work rather than pay a one-time lump sum to a contractor.

While the outdoor industry in general is growing, about 5 percent annually by Stahlman’s estimates, Mahindra’s business is growing by what he anticipates is roughly 30 percent.

Stahlman said Mahindra products are not offered elsewhere in the Butler area. Because of this, the company has seen tremendous growth, opening two new branches in Hadley and Washington, Pa., Stahlman said.

When the Butler center reopened in 2014, it had six employees, but now it has 12 with plans to hire another two people soon, Stahlman said.

Despite the growth, Stahlman admits the business is weather-dependent.

“If we have a drought, we aren’t going to sell as many units,” he said. “But come spring, we’re going to be swamped.”

Similarly, if a particular winter is low on snow, power plows may not sell as well either.

The gas industry’s recent boom has helped tractor sales slightly, he added. But now that the industry is slowing, tractor sales may slow, too.

“Tractors will always sell, but we really got a push from that,” he said.

Even after the sale of the tractor, Ritenour stays with the customers, providing parts and services that make up a significant part of his business.

“For the next 10 or 20 years that you own the machine, you can be coming back to us for help.”

“We sell things that are of the highest caliber,” Stahlman said. “We sell things that are built the way we would want them to be built if we were going to buy one.”

In fact, Stahlman owns a Mahindra himself.

Rick Ritenour also has other business interests.

One is an alpaca operation called Alpaca Palace on South Benbrook Road. He owns 130 alpacas with 45 babies due to arrive by November, he said.

In addition, he owns Custom Lawn Care at 107 Corks Lane and Ritenour Car Wash at 520 Evans City Road.